Smile
by CrimsonWaterlily
Summary: After going through some traumatic events Bucky Barnes was just trying to make a living as a PI as well as trying not to be such a shitty friend. He was doing well, all things considered, until Steve Rogers came along and asked him to take a case. The case ends up bringing back demons he tried to bury, as well as an actual demon who's vent on terrorizing him.


In light of what's happened recently I decided to post this to make myself feel better. Also Bucky's Jewishness won't be dwelt upon too much until later chapters (I sort of know where the story's going) so feel free to make some suggestions.

Based on Jessica Jones, so you know this is gonna be dark.

* * *

Chapter summary: We get to see a day in Bucky's shitty life.

Chapter 3

It was a nice quiet day in the street; the bar was bustling with people. Inside Sam Wilson served everyone their drinks with joy. He knew almost everyone here and they weren't the kind of scum that frequented other bars. Nobody here was into criminal activities, at least none that involved hurting others without a good reason. It was here where neither he nor his coworkers were disrespected for their race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Any asshole that tried to get away with any of that shit they got treated to an ex military's punches.

Sure, maybe this bar wasn't what he'd always dreamed about ever since he was a kid, but it was a good place and he was damn proud of it.

"Hey Wilson!" one of his customers at the bar called, "Another round will ya!"

"John haven't you had enough?" he berated the elder man.

"I'll have enough once I'm dead in the gutter," the older man grunted.

"That's reassuring," Sam muttered pouring the man another.

"So what's going on with the other business?" the man slurred.

"Oh my coworker's handling it," Sam replied.

"You mean-?"

"I mean he's handling it."

Sam was proud of how sure he was when he said that, he remembered a bet he'd made with John a while back, the deadline was near and he was willing to collect on that bet.

There was a crash upstairs.

He winced when he heard that. Damn that son of a bitch.

John's eyes were upstairs then he turned to Sam, with a thoughtful frown, "Looks like I get free drinks for a week."

Sam forced a smile when he heard another crash along with yelling before he sighed in resignation.

The bet he had made with John involved his partner not hitting one of his clients in their other business. He couldn't be too mad, they usually had it coming, but damn it Barnes!

Upstairs Bucky Barnes had just about enough of the man's struggling so he smashed him through the door window, knocking away the sign that read Canary Investigations which Sam had gone through a lot of trouble to get. The guy was definitely not gonna be happy but fuck if Bucky cared.

"Oh yeah and regarding your bill," he muttered angrily at the man sprawled on the floor.

A while later Bucky walked down to the bar, tossing his client on top of a few garbage cans, having taken more money than he should from the guy's wallet but the asshole had it coming.

"Sup!" he called to Sam once he entered the bar, waving to John as he passed.

"You just cost me 2000 dollars for the next week, at least," Sam complained.

"Here." Bucky put some cash on the counter; only a rich asshole would carry that much money, "Throw my shit in there as well."

Sam rolled his eyes before handing the man a whiskey and a bottle, "One of these days you have to stop throwing clients, who are senators, around, and stop making me give you drinks."

"Your business relies on alcohol consumption, deal with it. As for that guy he didn't like the way I handle things," Bucky muttered taking a shot then poured himself another.

"Did you have to go all crazy on him? Cause' he looks pretty beaten up and I don't think he's going to forget about it, again he's the senator."

"He wanted to pay me to rape his wife," Bucky sneered.

"Oh…never mind," Sam said, no longer irritated about the ordeal. "But, what if he pays someone else?"

"Don't give a fuck," Bucky replied taking another shot but noticed how Sam smirked knowingly at him, so it made Bucky glare and snapped, "What?"

"Don't glare at me like that; I know you have a heart of gold." Sam smirked then walked away to attend his other customers, leaving Bucky to roll his eyes.

He just wanted to punch the fucker in the face but he knew what he said was true. He found out the woman had been having an affair with another woman. He didn't know what prompted him to do so but he met up with her and they both explained everything, apparently she had only married the man because of her parents denying she was into women. Now she had fallen in love with the other woman and was planning to leave him without causing too much trouble.

In the end he ended up taking pity on her and told her he would still have to give her husband the pictures, but promised he would try to smooth things over with him. She had been grateful for that and hoped her husband wouldn't be too angry; she hadn't known how much of a sadist her husband truly was.

He tried to convince the man to take the easy way out but when the guy sprung that idea for Bucky, he fucked up badly. He didn't even bother to use his right arm, he just started swinging with his left, which just so happened to be made of metal. Needless to say the man was going to complain; luckily Bucky had looked the man up prior to working with him and now had more dirt on him than her. He already had a file ready for the woman to use against him, a file he was more than glad to share with director Nick Fury.

Nick Fury had been the one to recommend him to the senator, and Bucky was pretty sure he had seen this coming. That's how most of the cases Fury recommended him for went. Damn his fucking soft spot, it's what always got him roped into Fury's game. He wasn't really complaining, though, Fury always had a good goal in mind.

The only irritating part was having the asshole rub his softness in his face.

He drank another shot, preparing to down the entire bottle so that he wouldn't have to deal with the bullshit this night.

"Hey look it's those Avengers guys," one of the men at the bar called pointing to the screen.

Bucky's gazed darted to the TV and saw yet another save from the Avengers, some superhero guys who went around saving people. This time they managed to stop a neo-Nazi group from levelling a city. There were several images being played, some Iron Man and War Machine flying people out of the building, some of Hawkeye shooting things from the outside, the image then cut to Black Widow and Captain America exited from the building, and finally it showed the Captain America being hugged by a little girl in gratitude. He saw the image of her being patted over her curly hair and he felt something tug at his heart when the guy smiled at her before leaving.

He vaguely wondered what that felt like, to have someone look up to you the way she looked up to the guy. He wondered what it was like to get to do something good without hesitation, instead of being an asshole that worked in the shadows and only did shit to get paid.

He darted his gaze away, a voice in his head telling him he could never be like them.

He pushed his glass away and settled for drinking from the bottle.

Sam had seen the man stare at the screen and now watched him drink away, as usual, with a sad smile before he went back to cleaning.

Before he knew it the night was over and Bucky was gone without speaking to him. He went to where the man had sat and picked up the extra tip he always left.

How much longer was Bucky going to be like that? How long before he stopped talking to Sam altogether?

He knew he couldn't keep Bucky away from alcohol; hell one bottle barely did anything to him, so why bother? But he also knew he couldn't bear to see the man drink himself away every night. The only reason he let him drink at the bar was because the last few times he had denied him drinks Bucky got angry, stormed off somewhere else and had come back home covered in bruises and blood, only some of it his. It broke his heart, so he let the guy drink, otherwise that might end up being another person he lost.

"Later Sam!" his last customer called.

"Later!"

Once the bar was clean and empty Sam went to the bar, poured himself a glass of water, and took out a picture of him with another man, it read: "For the cutest boyfriend" – from the other cutest boyfriend, Riley.

"462 days since my last drink," Sam toasted, drinking the water before he got a solemn look, "How the hell did you do it?"

Another man would give up on someone they cared about if that person didn't want any help, but Riley hadn't given up on him when they were together, and neither had Bucky when he relapsed after Riley died. Now it was Bucky who had relapsed, so it was Sam's turn to not give up on him.

It was hard, but Riley gave him strength.

He took out his phone and sent a text to Bucky then headed toward his place.

Bucky currently sat in his apartment, uncaring if the door was broken, and gave his arm some maintenance. He tweaked around with the wiring for a while, wincing every now and then he got his nerves shocked. After that was done he replaced the plaques and went back to drinking, gazing at a notebook in front of him.

He eyed it with a blank stare but sorrowful eyes as he started writing in it, it wasn't the best thing for him but at least he had alcohol to help him through.

Once he had enough Bucky checked his phone when he received a text from Sam, it read: Good night asshole, see you tomorrow maybe? Let's do lunch.

He groaned at the stupid text and replied: you dont fucking DO lunch you EAT lunch + you need to start writing like a fucking millennial!

It didn't take long to get a reply

ok it min yes?!

He rolled his eyes but couldn't help a smile; he honestly didn't know how millennials wrote he just knew they didn't have perfect grammar like Sam did.

ill call u if im free

With that he put the phone away and went to his bed, where he froze. He hated sleeping on the bed; it was too soft, too warm. A long time ago he would've given anything to sleep on a bed, but now it brought too many memories. It was fine though, he had alcohol to help him sleep.

He finished drinking another bottle, his fourth that night; he hated how it burned out so quickly with his metabolism so he drank way more to be able to feel the effects of being drunk. After he let the bottle clatter somewhere he lay on the bed, waiting for the alcohol take effect.

Suddenly he felt it.

A hand ran through his hair and a tongue over his cheek.

He sprung out of the bed swinging at the entity but found that he was alone in his apartment, he was safe, he wasn't there with him.

He breathed harshly as he ran his hands through his hair, he began to take long deep breaths then started singing.

Shlof shoyn mayn tayer faygele

Makh shoyn tsu dayn kosher aygelekh

Shlof shoyn shlof

In ziser ruh

Aaaaai lu lu lu lu lu lu

He didn't sleep well that night, he never slept well anymore, at best he passed out, but that was good because it meant he didn't dream again.

He woke up groggily and with a headache as usual and groaned when he sat up while his mouth felt ash dry.

He jumped in shock and pain in his head when he heard the damn clock beeping. He fumbled around on his nightstand, knocking over bottles until he found the alarm clock and smashed it. He groaned at his action and flopped down on the bed while rubbing his head; that was just another thing he would have to replace.

He got up wearily and headed toward his kitchen to drink some water, then searched around his fridge looking for something to eat, preferably something that wasn't expired. He settled for eating some toast since everything else smelled like shit.

He took out his favorite morning drink which turned out to be a beer, if you drink it in the morning it's a morning drink, fuck you Sam!

Once he finished his breakfast he went to get his stuff so he could meet the lady with the asshole senator. He found someone sitting in the living room when he neared the place.

"Wanda?!" he yelled loudly snapping the girl awake.

The teenager jumped in shock and rubbed her eyes wearily before her gaze landed on him.

"Bucky?" she mumbled, "What are you doing in my apartment?"

"This is my apartment moron," he deadpanned.

She frowned at that and looked around the place in confusion before she rubbed her head, and muttered, "You need to fix your door."

"I know dumbass." Bucky growled then dragged her up by the arm, guiding her to her apartment. She stumbled around thanks to her drug-induced trance but he kept a firm hold of her. Before he dragged her out of his apartment, he grabbed the spare key he had for hers then went to the girl's door.

"Come on," he muttered, annoyed by her but still being as gentle as he could. Once he opened the door he carried her bridal style inside and set her down on the bed before covering her up with some blankets.

"Fucking junkie," he muttered before he left the place and closed the door behind him.

He sighed once he was outside, he hated having to deal with her but it wasn't like he could leave her to fend for herself. She had lost her brother in an accident, which prompted her to start doing drugs. Junkie, young and Romani, she would be going through hell if he didn't look out for her.

It wasn't that he liked her, he just felt bad for her. Plus, she was still a kid; he didn't blame her for what led her to be a drug addict.

After giving his arm another maintenance, he headed out to where he met with his client's wife the day before, file in hand for her to use against that piece of shit.

He knocked twice on the door and waited for her to open; when she did she was surprised to see him but once that wore off she was relieved.

"Mr. Barnes, how did it go?" she asked, looking hopeful.

"Your husband is a piece of shit," he grunted as he bypassed her and stepped into the hotel room, ignoring her expression.

"I'm sorry?" she asked following him inside.

"Hello there," the woman's girlfriend greeted him with a smile which he ignored in favor of placing the file on a nearby table.

"Here's the dirt on your husband, this will make you take all of his money which I highly suggest you do."

The two women were surprised they looked at each other in confusion before looking back to him, the wife asking, "Why-?"

"He's a shithead that's all you need to know," he answered quickly, not wanting to deal with this anymore.

"Oh my God!" the girlfriend said looking over the files, "You're just giving these to us?"

The wife went to inspect them, Bucky nearly groaned; he just wanted to leave and get it to Fury already. The sooner he finished a job the sooner he could go home and get drunk.

"This is…" the wife began to say but couldn't, "how can we ever repay you?"

"Well I could use some money."

He hadn't meant for that to sound impatient, and frankly shitty, but the women didn't seem to mind they actually seemed happy to help him.

"Let me see," the wife said while she dug around her purse then produced her checkbook, "will this be enough?"

He eyed the check; it seemed generous so he shrugged.

"Oh honey, add another zero," the girlfriend said looking at her phone, "it says here that a good private investigator gets paid more than that."

"Oh of course," the woman said.

Bucky licked his lips and looked away when he saw the woman look for a pen to give him more money. She must think it was worth giving him more money, but she was wrong. He felt something tug at his gut when she handed him the check but took it anyways. He was not expecting her to hug him afterwards, it made his stomach flip and his muscles tense.

"Thank you so much," the woman said.

"Yeah sure," he muttered, gently pushing her away, "just recommend me or whatever."

He was waved off by the women with smiles; they shouldn't have to thank him, no one should.

He rode off on his motorcycle toward Fury, trying to ignore his useless feelings.

He found himself entering the SHIELD building; there he swiped his fake ID through every security door. Almost everyone who worked at the building knew who he was and that his ID was fake, but he only had one route and that was Fury's office, so long as he didn't stray from it Fury made sure they minded their business. No one even paid attention to how the metal detectors constantly beeped anymore.

"Hello Mr. Barnes," Maria greeted him as he walked through the waiting room, "are you here to see Mr. Fury?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Yeah."

"Are you lying?"

"Yeah."

He made his way toward director Fury's office and entered without even knocking.

"Sup Fury," he called, approaching the older man.

"How many times have I told you to knock?" Fury asked without even looking up from his papers.

"A lot of times but I don't feel like counting," Bucky replied, dumping the file on the man's desk, finally making him look up but looking utterly unsurprised.

"All the dirt you could want from the senator," Bucky continued, sitting down in front of him.

"And why would I want that?" Fury asked, feigning innocence.

Bucky gave him a sideways flat stare, "Don't play this game right now; I'm really not in the mood."

"Somebody forgot their morning drink?" Fury mocked, keeping his face neutral while he took the file without taking his eyes of Bucky. Bucky in turn rolled his eyes and looked away as the man put file in his drawer.

"You got something for me?" he asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Not at the moment."

"Yeah you do, you always have something for me."

"What's the matter, don't have enough booze?"

"I have lots of booze especially with the check these women gave me."

"So you took money from them?"

"Yeah, so what?"

Fury sighed at that, "I know you well enough that you didn't want that money, you just want another excuse to make yourself feel like shit."

"Enough with the psycho analysis, you got a job for me or not?"

"Perhaps not, mostly because I don't want you using your methods any time soon."

Bucky offered him a tight lipped smile, "You love my methods, they get you results and they're amusing to you."

"This is true but sometimes they give me paperwork, and I hate paperwork. Unless you want to finish it for me I suggest you leave."

That should've been the end of that, Fury went back to ignoring his presence and finishing his reports, but Bucky was determined to get a case. He didn't want to have to force the guy, but he left him no choice. Now he would have to deal with the consequences.

He dug around in his pack and placed something on the man's desk, finally getting the guy's attention.

"I hate you," Fury commented, eyeing the small kitten on his desk.

Bucky smirked in triumph; if there was one thing that Fury loved, it was cats, especially one who looked as dirty and skinny as this one.

"Found him in an alley, poor guy's mom was lying dead just next to him and he was curled up to her."

Fury eyed the cat then glared at Bucky, moving to pick up the cat without breaking eye contact and placing it inside another drawer where the little guy started gobbling up some cat food Fury kept there.

All throughout that Fury kept glaring at Bucky, wishing to wipe the smirk off the guy's face for preying on his weakness.

"You want a case that badly?"

Bucky's smirk finally vanished as he sighed, sagging his shoulders. This made Fury's gaze finally soften, or at least ease up on the glare. Bucky was no longer confident or angry, he was the same self-loathing man he always was.

"I just need something to occupy myself otherwise I'll go insane…" Bucky mumbled, bowing his head and looking at his hands.

"That's why I keep telling you to go to the psychiatrist."

Bucky rolled his eyes, "A fucking psychiatrist who's gonna keep telling me to sing a verse of an old lullaby whenever I have panic attacks or tell me to write my memories in a notebook? No thanks, I don't feel like throwing my money down the drain."

Fury eyed the man for a moment but eventually sighed.

"One of these days the kitten stunt won't work."

"Thank you Nick," Bucky said all too sweetly, "so what do you need?"

"There's an FBI agent who's been known for criminal activities, but we haven't been able to find any solid evidence to suspend him indefinitely or put him in jail. We've been forced to drop the case, and because he's a top agent that has filed many complaints about SHIELD harassing him, no one's allowed to investigate him further."

"So you want me to spy on him and catch him in the act, without making it look like it was you who sent me."

"And by any chance," Fury continued dumping a book in front of him, "this is something personal of his. Drop it off for me."

"Aww Nick, you want me to drop his diary off," Bucky cooed, getting the hint.

"Now get the fuck out," Fury glared to which Bucky waved happily before leaving.

He wondered what shit the guy had done that would make Fury want him to catch him in the act. That was one of the reasons he loved working with Fury, sure the guy did a lot of dirty stuff himself and was a grade A bullshitter, but it was always for a good reason.

Bucky might hate himself, but that didn't mean he hated people agents like these put in harm's way.

When he got home he found Sam already there, looking smug as hell which made Bucky roll his eyes.

"I knew you were bullshitting when you said you'd do lunch," Sam explained.

"I said I would call you if I was free, and for fuck's sake you eat lunch," Bucky argued.

"Whatever, are you free?"

Bucky thought for a moment, unable to form the words to turn him down, "I just have this case that I-."

"Sweet, tell me about it on the way."

Bucky rolled his eyes and proceeded to follow Sam, unknowing where the guy was taking him. It later turned out they were going to the grocery store to get him some food.

Well he couldn't complain too much, especially not when Sam put some plums in the shopping cart; Bucky loved plums.

"Is there a reason for this?" Bucky asked.

"I figured you wanted to eat something other than worms," Sam replied.

"There were worms?"

"Yeah in a purple bowl."

"Oh shit, I thought that was rice," Bucky muttered, scrunching his nose.

Thankfully he hadn't eaten that.

"Plus, this is a way for you to treat me to a lot of things," Sam continued, showing Bucky boxes of his favorite treats.

Bucky rolled his eyes, but smiled.

He couldn't say he didn't miss these moments with Sam, despite the anxiety and guilt he always felt whenever he was near him. He just couldn't stay away; he was Sam's anchor as much as Sam's was his, especially with the anniversary coming up.

Sam and Riley's anniversary was tomorrow, and here he was working a case.

"How are you still my friend?" Bucky asked.

Sam was silent for a moment, looking away with a thoughtful frown, "You know I always asked myself how Riley was still my boyfriend. I guess he was stupid, some of it must've rubbed off on me."

Bucky smiled gratefully; yeah he wasn't the only stupid one.

"You don't have to come tomorrow, but…" Sam muttered in a shaky quiet voice, "It'll make me feel less miserable."

Bucky could only smile in sympathy, "I need to work this case, I'll try to get it done by tomorrow."

Sam smiled gratefully and the two went back to shopping.

The next day after following the FBI agent, Grant Ward, for who knows how long, he tracked him down to a club from where he exited out the back to where his car was parked.

There he saw what looked like a very unconscious girl in his arms then being placed in the trunk.

Well now he had something on him.

He followed him for a few minutes jumping from the rooftops until he finally met him at a stoplight, "Excuse me sir!" he called going over to the side of his car, "Could you tell where Sixteenth and Broadways is?"

"It's called Google Maps, asshole!" the guy said, before the light turned green and he started driving off, or at least that's what he tried to do.

Bucky looked at the sky with a frown by the looks of things it seemed like it was going to rain soon; he should've brought an umbrella.

"What the fuck?!"

His eyes snapped back to guy yelling as he tried to accelerate and drive off; right, job.

He smiled in amusement as the wheels kept moving while he held the back of the car in mid-air with his metal arm.

"Ah shit you're one of them!" Ward yelled then killing the engine, taking his seatbelt off and going for the door. Bucky put the car down and headed over to his side where he closed the door for him, and kept on doing so when the guy tried to get it open again.

"Stay away from me, please!" the guy said fearfully.

Bucky eyed him with dark squinty eyes and a clenched jaw, "I bet that girl in your trunk would say the same thing if she were conscious. What'd you do, spice up her drink?"

"If you hurt me, I'll tell the whole world about you! There'll be nowhere to hide!"

"Pal, I've been hiding for years, you think your description of a random person with white skin is gonna do anything? Plus, let's face it, that woman back there isn't gonna help your chances."

Bucky opened the car door and took the man's keys from his trembling hands, then reached down to open the trunk. After that he yanked the guy out and threw him to the ground, where he tried to crawl away. Bucky ignored him and proceeded to flatten his tire with his hand. He turned back to Ward and saw him get up and run away, Bucky didn't take long to reach him and yank him back to the car where he slammed him into the side.

The man groaned in pain but Bucky paid him no attention as he took his phone out, "Yes hello 911, there's a man with a woman in his trunk here at Lincoln Avenue, close to King's street…yes…I was going to help him with a flat tire," Ward pulled a gun on him but Bucky covered it with his left hand, letting the bullet ricochet in his palm, and then pulled the gun away, "yeah when he opened the trunk to get something I said I would help, then he tried to push me away and that's when I saw the woman there…Any other witnesses?"

"Me," he almost jumped at hearing a voice next to him, he turned in surprise to see a blond man standing there, smiling in amusement at the man who tried to get up. This time it was the blond who threw him at the car.

"Yeah there's another guy here," Bucky said, watching in curiosity as the blonde held the agent to the door, "Yeah, the girl's alright…ok thanks, we'll be here waiting."

He hung up the phone and looked at the blonde, not able to believe his eyes when he got a good look at him.

"Steven Rogers, call me Steve," Captain freaking America greeted while offering a hand.

Bucky looked at him, showing only mild surprise when he took the offered hand.

"That's quite a bullet catch you did there," the walking American flag commented, much to Bucky's annoyance.

"Yeah well, perks of having a metal arm and super strength."

"Metal arm?" Steve asked, "That's pretty cool."

Bucky shrugged, it wasn't as cool when he lost it but having it was pretty cool and he wasn't afraid to be proud of it.

"I'm glad you were here," Steve commented, "thanks to you, that girl is safe."

Bucky looked away, breathing through his nose, "Yeah well don't think I did it for her in particular."

Steve nodded in understanding and then frowned at him curiously while keeping an eye on Ward who continued to moan in pain, "So, you didn't tell me your name."

"Clark Smith," Bucky lied expertly, he already had a cover for the police to get a testimony.

"Ok…are you lying?"

Bucky sent the man a glare to which he raised his arms in surrender, "Sorry I asked."

They went back to being silent but Bucky continued to glare at him until the police arrived.

They took the girl to the hospital and called her parents. They would make sure to put the guy away with both the kidnapping and with the notebook evidence Bucky had planted in his car.

Once he was about to leave the station he found Steve waiting at the doorway, "I have an umbrella," he said, "I noticed you don't."

Bucky resumed glaring at him but rolled his eyes and exited the station, vent on leaving the guy behind. He received no such luck as the man chased him until he covered them both with the umbrella.

"What you plan on following me, Mr. America?" Bucky asked.

"Sure, I just want to make sure you get where you need to safely."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"I know, that's just an excuse to walk with you."

Bucky rolled his eyes at that, "So what makes you think I'm lying about my name?"

"The fact that you work for Nick Fury."

"Oh right, he knows you people."

Steve chuckled, "Yeah, are you the guy who bribes him with cats?"

"Of course, Fury loves cats."

"That he does."

"So what, were you following me?"

"Not really, I just stumbled upon you."

"Then un-stumble upon me."

Steve laughed holding his head low and Bucky could see a clear blush on his face.

"That's really not something I can do."

"Why's that?"

"Because I wanted to ask you out tonight."

Bucky stopped dead in his tracks and narrowed his eyes at him while smiling in amusement, "Captain, do you seriously want to go out with me?"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

Bucky gave him a sideways glance while holding his fake smile in place, "No, I just think that's a little forward for someone like you, plus I kind of have plans tonight."

Steve nodded in understanding, "Some other time then?"

Bucky was silent for a moment, looking at Steve his mind reminded him of another blond, one whose presence revolted him.

He shook his head, trying to will those memories away and cleared his throat before responding, "No thank you."

With that he started walking away, uncaring if he got wet; he just didn't want to be near the guy anymore. Besides, he had someone else to meet tonight, someone who would still tolerate him after dealing with his shitty self. He highly doubted even Captain America would want to stick around with him, after all he was shit.

Steve watched him walk away with an amused smile, he liked a challenge.

Bucky knocked on Sam's door, completely drenched but still there, it was the least he could do for Sam. So when Sam opened the door, he ignored how his mind told him he was shit because he wasn't doing this for Sam.

"Hey man," Sam said looking him over, "you're soaking wet."

Bucky ignored that and greeted him with a smile while holding up a bottle, receiving a sideways glare from Sam, "It's cider," he explained.

Sam shrugged in approval and took the bottle, opening the door to let him in.

"I'm gonna go and take a bath," Bucky exclaimed, taking his jacket and shirt off, "you're welcome to join me."

When he said that he turned to Sam, showing his abs and taking off his pants, making Sam laugh in amusement, "Seriously?!"

"What? Riley loved this," Bucky shrugged going over to Sam and kissing him.

Sam laughed through the kiss but kissed back, running his hands up Bucky's chest while Bucky ran his over his hips, grasping at his buttocks. Once they parted Bucky looked him in the eye and whispered huskily, "I'm gonna go into the bath and if you're not there I'm gonna jerk off by myself and shove my metal fingers into my ass."

That caused Sam to laugh, covering his face with his hands. Bucky smiled at that and went to the bathroom.

The thing was that Riley was asexual, and while he had no sex-drive he enjoyed masturbating. Sam and Bucky having sex was one of the things he would masturbate to.

He knew what Riley liked as well, to have Bucky buried deep into Sam as they came together.

A while later that's exactly what was happening, they knelt inside the tub while Bucky pressed Sam against the wall, luckily there was padding on the floor.

Sam moaned loudly as he braced himself against the bathroom wall, Bucky behind him pounding into his lubed up ass, grasping the man's waist in a bruising grip as he dug his cock in and out of him, Sam's moans driving him.

"Oh fuck!" Sam gasped, "Oh faster!"

Bucky was happy to oblige, biting at Sam's neck as he picked up the pace, striking Sam's prostate while the man clenched around his shaft. He began to stroke Sam's arousal, steadying himself with his metal arm.

"Can't forget about this, can we?" Bucky laughed when Sam's noises got louder when he stroked the member, feeling the pre-cum coating it.

He moved faster feeling Sam's ass clench and on one last harsh thrust he buried himself deeply feeling himself come along with Sam.

The two groaned in pleasure before gasping when they rode of their orgasms and slumped against the wall.

"That one's for you Riley!" Bucky yelled, slumping his head against Sam who laughed.

"Gosh I love your tuchus," Bucky groaned, giving the guy's ass a smack making the other yelped.

"Motherfucker!" Sam yelled as the two laughed and went to relax on opposite sides of the tub.

"So may I ask, why you decided to have sex with me for the first time in forever?" Sam asked.

Bucky sighed; he figured he would receive that question. The truth was that there were a lot of reasons why he decided to do this. He felt like shit, he wanted to forget about shit, he kept doing shitty stuff…he also knew he was a shitty friend, because he did it to erase the memories. Basically he did it because he was shit.

He shrugged, and thought of something else to tell Sam, "I guess it would've been an amazing anniversary present."

Sam didn't buy it for one minute, but he said nothing about it. He may love Bucky but he didn't want to push him, no matter how much he missed him.

"…Please stop being so distant with me," Sam muttered in a shaky voice, not looking at him, "I need you Barnes, please don't quit on me."

Bucky didn't look at him, he couldn't.

He wanted to tell Sam so badly, but he knew if he did he would probably lose him forever. He may not have the courage to be the friend he used to be, but he also didn't have the courage to completely cut him off. Sam needed him, even if he was shit.

"I'll try," he whispered.

Sam smiled; it was a start.

Aneka kept her eyes on her charge at all times, Prince T'Challa told her to enjoy herself but he knew she wouldn't do that. Her idea of a good time differed from his; a good time for her involved someone to spar with, or being with Ayo, or simply doing the job she was so proud of.

Okoye and Nareema sat next to her, on guard in case their prince came under harm. He had wanted to experience the American dance club life that Tony Stark had described to him, and was enjoying himself chatting with a few women despite the loud music. The girls seemed to have other ideas than him though; she had to admit it was amusing to see him talk about things they didn't understand. He enjoyed talking about science and technology, the Americans at these places didn't share the same interests.

Still he seemed to be enjoying himself and the Dora Milaje would stand by, ready to protect their prince with everything they had.

Unfortunately even with all their training, even if they were considered the strongest warriors in the world, they could not have prepared for what would happen.

"Excuse me ladies," they heard a man speak and vaguely acknowledged him.

"You will allow your charge to escape in the crowd."

Suddenly that was Aneka's only objective in mind, despite the fact that a voice at the back of her head said not to listen to it. She had a desperate need to do just that, Okoye and Nareema felt the same.

"We will allow our charge to escape in the crowd," she and the other two said without further thought.

"And you will forget about me," he continued.

"And we will forget about you," they replied.

Their goals were clear, and there would be nothing stopping them from carrying them out.

They instantly forgot about the man and only waited to let their prince escape in the crowd.

The man was satisfied with their replies and he casually strolled toward the prince, once he reached him he spoke to the girls, "Ladies, all of you leave."

They did so without hesitation, leaving T'Challa in confusion. He glared at the man suspiciously for being so disrespectful.

"And who might you be?" he demanded.

"You want to come with me," the man ordered.

T'Challa almost scoffed in amusement but it soon that emotion vanished, all that followed was an unquenchable need to do as this man asked.

"I want to go with you," he replied.

"This way then," the man gestured and T'Challa followed; right now it was the only thing he wanted. He ignored something tugging at the back of his mind, something that screamed at him that he didn't want this; he didn't want to go with this man. He would ignore it, because of course he wanted to.

* * *

The verse of the lullaby Bucky's singing is from here: tag/lullaby/

Tuchus is a Yiddish euphemism for ass


End file.
